The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
When using an RFID system for timing sporting events, it often becomes necessary to utilize two or more systems for the purpose of expanding the RFID tag read zone at a particular timing location. Multiple systems may also be needed for the purpose of providing redundancy to ensure that a tag is read as it passes the timing location. The physical configuration and layout of two or more systems may differ greatly. For example, two systems may be placed side by side in order to provide a wider path in which tags may pass. If greater redundancy is needed, two or three systems may be placed behind each other to effectively provide multiple zones for the tags to pass through. In all cases in which multiple systems are used, the time stamp on a tag read will be unique to each system that recorded a read. This creates a challenge because there becomes no single location which is the definitive point on the race course that is designated as the timing location. For example, if a finish line of a running event has multiple systems deployed behind each other to provide redundancy over a distance of perhaps 20 feet, it may be difficult to know the exact location of the finish line given that any one of the systems may have recorded the tag read. This problem is well understood and it has existed in the sports timing industry for many years.